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Consistency is Key in Social Media Customer Service

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Handling customer service across social media channels is somewhat expected in this hyper connected time. Many customers are looking for instant feedback and response when they have an issue or a question. If your business is represented online, which is absolutely necessary in this day and age, then you have to have a customer service strategy in place as well.

Obviously you won’t be able to monitor and instantly respond to feedback 24/7, but you can come up with an approach and stay consistent. Either you’re going to provide customer service across social media platforms or you’re not. You have to put some effort and resources into responding if you’re going to provide that type of service. This can’t be a halfway approach.

If you are only checking in from time to time, you may get customers that complain about something or ask a question that you respond to once and then they’re left in the dark when you don’t come back again to continue or finish the conversation. Maybe your strategy is to direct all public comments and questions to private message or email so it’s not open on a public forum. That’s a great approach. However, if you’re asking customers to reach out to you via email –then you have to check that email. You need to respond in a timely manner. Determine ahead of time what that window is.

There are several tools and tricks to help you remain consistent. You can set up an email account with an automatic reply that goes out whenever a new inquiry is sent. This message can validate for the customer that you’ve received that email and that you will be responding in the next 24 hours, for instance. Whatever you decide is the best strategy for your business –stay consistent with it. If you are right on top of steps one through three, and then drop off the face of the earth for steps four and five, customers aren’t going to care that you started off strong.

Let’s say you had a customer right in front of you at your store. They come to you with a complaint. How would you handle it in person? How long would you make them wait? Would you ignore them? How would you respond? Now translate that into your social media responses.

Consistency is the biggest asset you have when it comes to your social media customer service strategy. Find what works for your business and then stick to it. Remember that these are public forums. If you’re not consistent, customers will see that. They will want to know why some people got preferential service and they did not.

What have your experiences been handling customer service issues on social media? What brands have you seen handling it in a great way? How did they manage that? What are some terrible customer service approaches you’ve seen on social media? Comment below!